Sometimes New Jersey fusion restaurants take two types of food that seemingly don’t make sense together and turn it into something delicious. Italian-Japanese food at Pasta Ramen in Montclair. Bonney’s Filipino-Jamaican barbecue in Metuchen. French-Asian dishes at The Roxy in Jersey City.
But occasionally restaurants take combinations that should work together and simply fail in execution.
No. 79 Bar Restaurant & Liquor Store opened in Hammonton two years ago offering Polish-Italian fusion fare. The combination certainly makes sense on paper. Popular Polish eats like pierogis and kielbasa and iconic Italian bites like chicken parm and flatbreads seem like they could mesh well.
Unfortunately, that just isn’t the case at No. 79.
I took a trip to Hammonton to try No. 79 recently and I am saddened to admit that the food did not live up to my expectation of what Polish-Italian eats could be.
The good
No. 79 Bar Restaurant & Liquor Store in Hammonton. (Christopher Burch | NJ Advance Media)Christopher Burch
On a high note, No. 79 has a nice selection of appetizers. I went with the Bavarian pretzel ($13) and truffle short rib fries ($14) as my starters.
The pretzel was the hands-down best thing I ate at the Atlantic County restaurant, with a golden-brown, glossy crust and a soft, fluffy interior. The appetizer came with delicious sweet and spicy horseradish honey mustard and tangy beer cheese. A brush of butter could have enhanced the pretzel, but it was strong nonetheless.
The dish I was most eager to try was the pierogi parmigiana ($19). New Jersey is celebrated for its chicken parm offerings, and I’ve had great takes on the dish across the state. But I’ve never heard of pierogi parm, so I was very excited to try No. 79’s interpretation.
No. 79 Bar Restaurant & Liquor Store in Hammonton. (Christopher Burch | NJ Advance Media)Christopher Burch
The parm — featuring sliced crispy chicken cutlets, marinara sauce and mozzarella over a bed of pierogi — won’t make our list of the state’s best chicken parms anytime soon. But it was definitely the second-most enjoyable thing I tried at No. 79. The pierogis were the warmest food I was served (more on that later). The pierogi were fluffy, making this feel even more like comfort food than chicken parm already is.
The red sauce was lackluster in taste, very bland in comparison to robust tomato sauce served at many of the state’s best Italian eateries, it could have elevated the plate if it tasted more like a traditional Italian-American Sunday gravy than just plain old tomato sauce. The chicken was a bit tough and dry — like it was reheated in a microwave for too long — but it was still crispy which did play well with the softness of the pierogi.
The bad
No. 79’s concept works better on paper than it does on the plate. As cliche as it may sound, the food simply lacked love. The establishment bills itself as a bar, restaurant and liquor store, but the emphasis is clearly on the bar component.
First and foremost, most of my food was cold when it got to the table. When I arrived at No. 79, there were less than five other guests inside the restaurant — it’s not like they were slammed. It truly seemed like the food was reheated to room temperature.
No. 79 Bar Restaurant & Liquor Store in Hammonton. (Christopher Burch | NJ Advance Media)Christopher Burch
The truffle short rib fries ($14) seemed promising. It’s kind of difficult to ruin loaded fries, but No. 79 somehow did. The fries themselves were crispy and salted well. But the odd-looking blob of mozzarella cheese and truffle oil atop the fries threw everything off. The cheese dried up almost immediately, leaving me with no choice but to pick around the oily cheese mound. The cold chunks of short rib tasted like nothing at all. A Slim Jim would have been a better choice of protein than whatever that flavorless meat was.
No. 79 Bar Restaurant & Liquor Store in Hammonton. (Christopher Burch | NJ Advance Media)Christopher Burch
The buffalo chicken flatbread ($14) was another lowlight of No. 79’s menu. The crust reminded me of Ellio’s frozen pizza — flavorless and doughy. The mozzarella cheese was simply off and coupled with chunks of chicken tossed in a buffalo-bleu cheese sauce blend that overpower everything else on the flatbread. I could barely get through one piece.
Although the first few dishes did not please, I was hopeful that the “Ultimate Bourbon Bacon Jam” burger ($16) would finally be something else I could enjoy. The bacon jam itself was tasty, but the cold food issue struck again as my burger patty was not hot and the beer cheese was already congealing.
No. 79 Bar Restaurant & Liquor Store in Hammonton. (Christopher Burch | NJ Advance Media)Christopher Burch
I thought there was no way the Polish kielbasa sandwich ($12) would miss. The dish is Polish culinary staple, and one that is difficult to mess up. The roll, sautéed onions and mustard were great additions to the sausage. But the meat itself was cold. Again.
The vibe
No. 79 Bar Restaurant & Liquor Store in Hammonton. (Christopher Burch | NJ Advance Media)Christopher Burch
As lackluster as No. 79’s food was, the vibe was awesome. The wooden cottage-like interior design, large bar and outdoor dining set-up was superb. You can tell that the space formerly housed a dive bar, but No. 79 added excellent touches to the building. The inside can seat about 60 guests and the spacious backyard patio area offers even more seating, picnic tables and a bar that functions during the summer season when weather permits.
The liquor store component of No. 79 is a bit confusing — there’s no standalone liquor counter or separate entrance for liquor store customers. Regardless, the booze at the bar was just fine.
I can imagine No. 79 is a great time during sporting events or on a nice summer night when the music and alcohol are drowning out the taste of the food.
No. 79 Bar Restaurant & Liquor Store in Hammonton. (Christopher Burch | NJ Advance Media)Christopher BurchThe bottom line
Credit to No. 79 for attempting to fuse two cuisines that seemingly make sense together. But the execution simply isn’t there. The flavors are mostly lacking — and even when they’re not, the food is cold.
The bar element is excellent here. But the restaurant aspect is subpar. If No. 79 can elevate its food offerings to match its decor and vibe, it has the potential to be a great establishment.
But until then, I’ll be seeking out fusion food elsewhere.
No. 79 Bar Restaurant & Liquor Store in Hammonton. (Christopher Burch | NJ Advance Media)Christopher Burch
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Dining and Cooking